steppingintoday.com

                         Stepping In Today

                                       With Laura Vomvos

Stepping in a Fathers Shoes

This month we celebrate Fathers Day.  I would like to dedicate this column to all of the fathers.  The role of a dad has evolved over the years from being the bread winner and provider to taking on the more active hands-on approach of child raising.  Back in the day, we had soccer moms and working dads.  Today, we have dads that join in every sport and hobby their children sign up for, and with support and enthusiasm.  We are the generation of diaper changing dads and PTA pops. 

There is no greater smile on the face of my husband than throughout baseball season.  He takes great pride in Coaching and practicing with our children.  There is no prouder father than my husband when he sits on the bleachers of a wrestling match, or the sideline of a softball game, or the bench at a soccer game, or the stands at a graduation.  He does it all, and with a huge grin.  You see, greater than any job, is his job of being a vital role in the life of our children.  Greater than any vision he has for us, is the vision he has for our children. 

Life in stepfamily adds some challenges to that, as remaining in their life daily creates its own hurdles.  I applaud him for his untiring efforts of making us a family.  Sharing your children part of the time isn’t easy, and we have always remained focused on our family time together.  We are sure to have dinners together, attend one anothers sporting events, and interact on a daily basis.

 Being a stepfather is a special balancing act of learning to juggle the friendship with the boundary line.  It is learning to love a child that wasn’t yours from the start, and feel the growing pains together, as your relationship grows and expands with time.  Its knowing when to say what you need to say, and when to know well enough to say nothing at all. 

My parents have been divorced for 40 years. I guess you could say I’ve been “living in stepfamily” all my life.  This past mothers day my father gave my mother a special gift when he picked up the phone and called to thank her, 40 plus years later, for raising three of the greatest children in the world.  I thought to myself, what a wonderful thing to do! 

So, today I would like to do the same for the wonderful fathers in my life.  To my father- my forever friend, to the father of my daughters for their hand in the raising of my amazing girls, to my brother for loving his children as he does, and to my husband who is by far the most amazing, involved, loving dad in the world, I thank you.

To all of the wonderful fathers out there who take the time to play with their children, attend the huge number of timely events, learn to use facebook, twitter and texts just to stay connected, pushed strollers through parks and load the dishwasher without beings asked, we thank you.  We thank you for your involvement, your love and your parenting.

As the saying goes “A father is a man who has replaced the currency in his wallet with the snapshots of his kids” .  Always know the time you spend never goes unnoticed, unwanted or unappreciated.  To all the great dads out there…Happy Fathers Day!